Bachmann's™ introduction of their side dump ore cars was a welcome addition
to those of us who enjoy modeling little industrial railways. These 1:20.3
large scale models follow the basic dimensions and designs of a number of different
cars produced by several manufactures in the United States. These models
are fully operational and are very appealing to the eye. They do, however, have
areas that could use some improvement if you want to model true 1:20.3 fine
scale trains. That's what these detailing kits are all about.

The
first thing you will probably notice is the Bachmann™ knuckle couplers appear to
be too large for these little cars. Our kits replace these stock couplers with
either scale link and pins, or smaller Kadee™ #1 knuckles. The Kadee™ couplers
install at the correct height for magnetic operation. Both coupler conversions
are fairly easy to accomplish, and we provide complete instructions and assembly
sketches to help you through the installation process.

The next
improvement involves replacing the large flange plastic wheel sets that come with
these cars, with our fine scale metal wheel sets. Our metal wheel sets were
designed specifically for the Bachmann™ side dump ore cars and they snap into
place with very little effort. The design takes advantage of the journal bearings
that Bachmann™ has installed in the side frames. With the added weight and lower
center of gravity created by the metal wheel sets, these little cars track
like a dream, as well as look great.

The detailing kits also provide
replacement tie down chains and rings that are more in scale with these little
cars. The chains that come with the cars appear much too course, and we feel
they detract from the fine scale detail of the main frame. We include detailed
white metal journal lids to round out the package.

If desired, even more detailing
may be added by the modeler. We set out to design these kits to improve operation
and to take care of the basic out of scale issues. We feel our kits will
help provide fine scale models with a minimum investment of time, effort and money.